This application is based on application No. 9-271198 filed in Japan, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus in which multiple jobs can be registered.
2. Description of the Related Art
Copying machines in which multiple jobs can be registered have been developed in recent years. One such copying machine is the image processor disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Hei 4-321376. This image processor performs image processing using sheet recognition information by means of a specific mark or symbol as well as by means of a job control sheet in which the job attribute information defining the operation instructions for the machine is described. Where the job contents are to be revised by means of this image processor, an original document which is overlapped onto a job control sheet is set in the auto document feeder and the information on the job control sheet is read by the image reader. The revision key or addition key on the control panel is then selected and the revision or additional information regarding the job contents is input. The new information is registered when the register key is input.
Some of the conventional copying machines are equipped with a copy mode program function in which multiple sets of copy modes are registered in advance by the user in accordance with the conditions of use.
However, using the image processor disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Hei 4-321376 described above, when a new job is to be registered, it is necessary to read the information on the job control sheet by means of the image reader. Therefore, when registering a new job by revising the contents of the job that is already registered, the information on the job control sheet must be read once again by the image reader, which makes the operation inconvenient. Another problem is that where another original document is being read, the user must wait until the image reader becomes available.
In conventional copying machines, on the other hand, even when copying is to be performed using the copy modes that are identical to those of the job previously set, while the copying machine still remembers the last set of copy modes, it cannot recall the copy modes that were used for a job that was several jobs in the past. Consequently, where additional copying is to be performed using the same job contents as previously set, it is necessary to set the copy modes from the start. In addition, in the copying machine equipped with the copy mode program function, while it is possible to call up the registered sets of copy modes and perform setting, selection is limited to those sets of copy modes that are already registered. This entails the problem that setting must be carried out for any other sets of copy modes.
The present invention was created to resolve these problems. Its object is to provide a convenient image forming apparatus that, where the job contents that are to be newly registered are identical or similar to the contents of a job that is already registered, said job can be newly registered in a simple fashion.
In order to attain said object, first, the image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises an input means to input image data, a first registering means to associate operation modes with said image data and register them together as a job, a selecting means to select a job from among the jobs registered by said first registering means, a revising means to revise the selected job, a second registering means to register said revised job as a new job, and an output means to execute output of the jobs registered by said first registering means and said second registering means.
Said revising means revises the operation modes of a selected job or replaces the image data of a selected job with the image data that is newly input, for example.
Secondly, the image forming apparatus of the present invention also comprises an input means to input image data, a first registering means to associate operation modes with said image data and register them together as a job, a selecting means to select a job from among the jobs registered by said first registering means, a second registering means to register the selected job as a new job, and an output means that executes output of the jobs registered by said first registering means and said second registering means.
Thirdly, the image forming apparatus of the present invention further comprises a reading means to read the image of the original document, a first registering means to associate operation modes with said image data and register them together as a job, a selecting means to select a job from among the jobs registered by said first registering means, a display means to display the operation modes of the job selected by said selecting means, a means to revise the operation modes that are displayed, a second registering means to associate the revised operation modes with the image data newly read by said reading means and register them together as a new job, and an output means to execute output of the image data of the jobs registered by said first registering means and said second registering means based on the operation modes.
The registration by the user may be simplified and the time needed for the operation of the machine may be reduced via the characteristics described above.